Chapter 5 - The Name Hidden in the Recording
The voice came from the other side of the metal door.
"Roman."
I froze.
Not because I recognized it.
Because I did.
Every memory.
Every moment.
Every conversation.
All of it came back at once.
I knew that voice.
It belonged to someone I had trusted with my life.
"Open the door," the voice said.
Adrian looked at me.
His face had lost all color.
"Roman..."
I raised my hand.
"Don't."
The room went silent.
The darkness around us felt heavier.
The only light came from my phone screen, casting a faint glow over the photographs covering the walls.
The voice outside came again.
"Roman, you need to listen to me."
I stepped closer to the door.
"You first."
Silence.
Then:
"You're making a mistake."
I almost smiled.
A mistake.
That was what everyone said when they were afraid the truth was coming out.
I looked at Adrian.
"Can you open this door?"
He shook his head.
"The lock is controlled from outside."
"By who?"
He didn't answer.
I already knew.
Someone who had access to my security.
Someone who knew this room existed.
Someone who knew Sophia's secrets.
I looked down at the black drive in my hand.
For Roman Only.
Sophia had known.
She had known this moment would happen.
She had known I would eventually stand here.
The question was why.
I walked back to the desk.
"Adrian."
He looked at me.
"What did Sophia put on this drive?"
His expression changed.
"I don't know."
I stared at him.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"You were her doctor."
"I was more than her doctor."
That stopped me.
"What does that mean?"
Adrian looked away.
For the first time, I saw regret on his face.
"Sophia asked me to help her investigate."
I felt anger rise.
"You investigated my family behind my back?"
"No."
His voice became sharper.
"We investigated someone who was destroying your family."
I stepped closer.
"Who?"
Adrian looked toward the door.
Then back at me.
"Your brother."
The name that had haunted me for years.
Marco.
My older brother.
My partner.
The man I thought I lost.
I remembered him differently before everything fell apart.
He was the one person who understood me.
The one person who knew the weight of carrying the DeLuca name.
But after our father died, things changed.
Marco wanted control.
I wanted stability.
He wanted fear.
I wanted respect.
The disagreement became a war.
Then came the explosion.
Then came the funeral.
Then came the empty space where my brother used to be.
"You said he was alive."
Adrian nodded.
"He was."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
I grabbed the front of his coat.
"Don't play games with me."
"I'm not."
His eyes were serious.
"The night before Sophia died, she found proof that Marco had been alive for three years."
My grip loosened.
"Three years?"
"Yes."
"Since the accident?"
"Yes."
My mind raced.
If Marco was alive...
Then everything changed.
The explosion.
The funeral.
The people who benefited from his disappearance.
Everything.
I looked at the drive.
"Why didn't Sophia tell me?"
Adrian's voice became quiet.
"Because she discovered something worse."
"What?"
"Marco wasn't working alone."
Before I could ask another question, the lights suddenly came back on.
The metal door unlocked.
The person outside entered.
I turned immediately.
My hand moved toward my weapon.
Then I stopped.
Because the person standing there was not Victor.
It was Lena.
The nanny.
Her face was pale.
Her breathing was heavy.
"Roman."
I stared at her.
"What are you doing here?"
She looked at Adrian.
Then at the drive in my hand.
"I knew you would find it."
That sentence made my eyes narrow.
"You knew about this room?"
She didn't answer.
That was enough.
"Lena."
She swallowed.
"Yes."
The room became silent.
Another secret.
Another person who knew.
Another person who had been watching me search for answers.
"How long?"
"Since before I worked here."
I stared at her.
"Then why did you come into my house?"
Her eyes became emotional.
"Because Sophia asked me to."
The words hit harder than I expected.
"Sophia?"
Lena nodded.
"Your wife knew something would happen to her."
I looked away.
No.
I didn't want to hear it.
Because every person who had spoken tonight had one thing in common.
They knew my wife was in danger.
And I didn't.
"What did she ask you to do?"
Lena took a small envelope from her pocket.
"I was supposed to give you this when you found the room."
I didn't take it immediately.
"Why now?"
"Because she said you wouldn't believe the truth until you saw it yourself."
I looked at the envelope.
My wife's handwriting was on it.
Again.
Another message from a woman who had been gone for three years.
I opened it.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
Only one sentence.
Roman, if you are reading this, it means I failed to protect you.
My chest tightened.
I continued reading.
Do not trust the person who tells you they came to save you.
I stopped.
Slowly, I looked at Adrian.
Then Lena.
Neither spoke.
The next line was worse.
The person who betrayed us has been standing beside you since the beginning.
I lowered the paper.
"Who?"
Lena looked terrified.
Adrian looked away.
Neither answered.
Then the hidden room's computer screen suddenly turned on.
All three of us turned.
The monitor flickered.
A video file opened automatically.
A recording.
Date:
Three days before Sophia's death.
My wife's face appeared on the screen.
She looked tired.
Scared.
But alive.
I moved closer.
Sophia looked directly into the camera.
"Roman..."
My heart stopped.
Her voice filled the room.
"If you are watching this, then they already know you found the truth."
I couldn't move.
I couldn't breathe.
Because I had spent three years wishing for one more conversation with her.
One more moment.
And now she was here.
But she looked afraid.
"Roman, there is something I need you to understand."
The video paused.
The screen glitched.
Then another window appeared.
A live camera feed.
From inside my mansion.
I stared at the image.
Someone was standing in my children's bedroom.
Watching my sons sleep.
May you like
And the person slowly turned toward the camera.
It was Victor.
